Wildland Firefighter - Aircraft Flight Instructor (MIssion, Inspector, and Standardization)

Wildland Firefighter - Aircraft Flight Instructor (MIssion, Inspector, and Standardization)

Department: Department of Agriculture

Location(s): Salt Lake City, Utah, Seattle, Washington, Phoenix, Arizona, Los Angeles, California, San Francisco, California, Denver, Colorado, Washington, District of Columbia, Miami, Florida, Atlanta, Georgia, Chicago, Illinois, Indianapolis, Indiana, New Orleans, Louisiana, Boston, Massachusetts, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Kansas City, Missouri, Albuquerque, New Mexico, New York, New York, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Portland, Oregon, Austin, Texas

Salary Range: $110871 - $171396 Per Year

Job Summary: THIS IS AN OPEN CONTINUOUS ANNOUNCEMENT. This type of announcement provides the USDA Forest Service with a readily available source of applicants when vacancies occur. Eligibility and qualifications will be verified when there is a vacancy for the location and grade for which you applied. Information on specific locations where jobs are being filled and the dates applications are due for these locations can be found on the Forest Service website. See ADDITIONAL INFORMATION section for details.

Major Duties:

• Duties listed are at full performance grade GS-13 level.
• Serves as pilot-in-command (PIC) of aircraft conducting missions to include point-to-point transportation of personnel and cargo, and utilization of special use skills such as fire suppression/fire retardant delivery and rappel operations.
• Provides expert technical advice to regional/national aviation programs as a principal advisor in the development/implementation of policies, programs and standard practices for aviation operations and specialized projects.
• Provides oversight in planning/development and performance of specialized missions for the Forest Service and cooperator units in the use of aircraft to perform high risk activities such as aerial ignition, mountain flying, and fire support missions.
• Plans, develops and leads training programs for non-pilot aviation personnel, such as helicopter managers, aerial ignition operators and Contracting Officer Representatives (COR).
• Serves as technical authority and represents the Chief of the Forest Service on joint agency accident investigations involving loss of life, serious injury, and/or property damage.
• Evaluates and determines suitability and capability of contractor employed pilots for approval to perform special use skills such as search and rescue, point-to-point transportation of personnel and cargo, and operations in mountainous terrain.
• Evaluates safety of operations, training practices, suitability of aircraft, efficiency with which equipment is used, mechanical condition of equipment used, aircrew proficiency, and adequacy of communications.
• Evaluates qualifications of employees responsible for management and technical supervision of aircraft operations, adequacy of management's control of aircraft operations, and Government/operator working relationships.

Qualifications: In order to qualify, you must meet the eligibility and qualifications requirements as defined below by the closing date of the announcement. For more information on the qualifications for this position, visit the Office of Personnel Management's General Schedule Qualification Standards. Your application and resume must clearly show that you possess the experience requirements. To receive consideration for this position, you must provide updated required documents and meet all qualification requirements by the due date of this announcement. Basic Requirement: Minimum eligibility requirements for this position are based on possession of the appropriate Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) pilot certificates and/or appropriate military ratings, meeting the applicable flight hour requirements, and possession of the knowledge and skills required for the position. Refer to How You Will Be Evaluated section for additional information. You must possess the Basic Requirements identified below to be considered eligible for this position. Your application or resume must clearly show that you possess the appropriate experience requirements. Must possess: an FAA Airplane Commercial Pilot Certificate with Instrument and Airplane Multi-Engine Land ratings, or an Airline Transport Pilot Certificate with Instrument and Airplane Multi-Engine Land rating. Must possess a current FAA first or second-class medical certificate; AND Must possess and maintain current and valid qualifications as a FAA Certified Flight Instructor in airplanes (Multi-Engine Instructor - Instrument) Must meet all the following flight requirements and all minimum hours must be in Category (Airplane): Possess minimum flight time of 1500 hours with 250 hours as Pilot-In-Command (PIC). Possess minimum flight time of 500 hours PIC in multi-engine airplanes. Possess minimum PIC flight time of 75 hours performing Night Flight. Possess minimum flight instructor time of 500 hours in category Possess minimum PIC time of 75 hours of actual or simulated Instrument time with 10 hours actual instrument weather flight. AND Possess minimum PIC flight time in Category of 100 hours in the preceding 12 months. In addition to meeting the basic requirement, you must also possess experience in the amounts listed below. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Specialized Experience Requirement: GS-12: You must have one-year specialized experience equivalent to the GS11 in the Federal service. Examples of specialized experience include: Performing basic systems inspection on multi-engine airplanes to confirm aircraft readiness for flight operations according to prescribed preflight checks; piloting multi-engine airplanes in adverse weather, smoky conditions and/or reduced visibility, turbulent air, low-speed low-level flight over mountainous, unfavorable terrain, constant radio traffic, and high density air traffic (in a non-radar environment); conducting flight inspections and evaluations; and instructing of contractor and agency pilots to ensure their skills and abilities met agency requirements appropriate to the position held. GS-13: You must have one-year specialized experience equivalent to the GS12 in the Federal service. Examples of specialized experience include: Performing duties as a qualified instructor for administering advanced instrument proficiency checks, flight reviews, equipment checks and mission checks for agency pilots; and performing ground and flight training in preflight planning, aircraft systems, weather, night mountain flying techniques and high-altitude operations, standard operating procedures and advanced instrument procedures and techniques. FIREFIGHTER RETIREMENT COVERAGE: This is a secondary firefighter position under 5 USC 8336 (CSRS) and 8412(d) (FERS). Prior wildland firefighting experience is required. There is no age limit for entry into secondary positions. Firefighter retirement coverage of the incumbent depends upon his or her individual work history.

How to Apply: Please view Tips for Applicants - a guide to the Forest Service application process. Please read the entire announcement and all instructions before you begin. You must complete this application process and submit all required documents electronically by 11:59p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement. Applying online is highly encouraged. We are available to assist you during business hours (7:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m., Mountain Time Zone, Monday - Friday). If applying online poses a hardship, contact the Agency Contact listed below well before the closing date for an alternate method. All hardship application packages must be complete and submitted no later than noon ET on the closing date of the announcement to be entered into the system prior to its closing. Resumes must not exceed two pages. This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities on a case-by-case basis; contact the Agency Contact to request this. To begin, click "Apply" and follow the instructions to complete the Assessment Questionnaire and attach your resume and all required documents. Please verify that documents you are uploading from USAJOBs transfer into the Agency's staffing system as there is a limitation to the number of documents that can be transferred. However, once in the Agency's staffing system, you will have the opportunity to upload additional documents. Uploaded documents must be less than 5MB and in one of the following document formats: GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, PDF, TXT or Word (DOC or DOCX). Do not upload Adobe Portfolio documents because they are not viewable. Encrypted documents will not be accepted. Failure to submit required, legible documents may result in loss of consideration. Please ensure your resume does not exceed two pages. Applicants who submit a resume that exceeds two pages will be removed from consideration. Our office cannot be responsible for incompatible software, your system failure, etc.

Application Deadline: 2026-06-26